FBI Targets Lone Extremists

James von Brunn’s assault on the National Holocaust Museum is only the latest example of a growing trend of “lone wolf” radicals who, apparently spurred by the election of the country’s first African-American president, are taking their racism to violent extremes, The Wall Street Journal reports. Even before the recent attack, the FBI had “lone extremists” in its crosshairs, noting that “lone-wolf offenders continue to be of great concern to law enforcement.” Now the feds have a new plan, “Operation Vigilante Eagle,” meant to target would-be domestic terrorists. The operation was launched in response to radical right-wing groups’ “noticeable increase in recruitment, threatening communications and weapons procurement,” according to an FBI memo. Yet identifying a lone-wolf terrorist, such as the the Unabomber and Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, is especially challenging, as they often set out on their own after being shunned by their racist brethren for being too radical.